Dear Old Drone U.: UAVs Go to College

Universities around America are opening a new line of study: training for students to become unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pilots and mechanics.

Ah, the college years, a magical time in a young adult's life. Time to cast off secondhand opinions, explore sociology and philosophy, engage in rambunctious politics … and learn how to remotely pilot a Predator drone.

A growing number of American universities now offer classes on operating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), enrolling students who hope to one day find work for employers such as defense contractors. But will the lucrative jobs be there when they graduate? As U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan winds down and contractor salaries shrink, the answer to that question depends on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). If the FAA ultimately integrates UAVs into the national airspace, the Class of 2015 will find ample new opportunities as unmanned aircraft enter new fields.

Unmanned Aircraft 101

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., has been teaching America's young aviators how to fly since 1926. Two years ago the school added a new major in unmanned aircraft system sciences, and the response has been enthusiastic.

"We already have 110 students in the program," says Nickolas "Dan" Macchiarella, chair of the aeronautical science department. "And we know that our fall enrollment will be even bigger."

Embry-Riddle's unmanned aircraft major offers two tracks, one pilot and the other non-pilot (it teaches skills such as sensor operators and UAV ground support crew). Both come with a heavy load of prerequisites in aeronautics and engineering. Pilots generally train with small civilian drones. However, in the capstone course, "AS 473: UAS Flight Simulation," students use simulators to practice with medium-altitude long-endurance vehicles: the same size class of UAV as the Predator or the Israeli Heron TP. "They conduct operations like the kind that would be used for homeland security and public safety," Macchiarella says.

Given the sensitive nature of the program, the State Department's regulations mandate that all unmanned aircraft system sciences students be U.S. citizens. But otherwise, they are just regular college kids.

And a number of "regular" colleges are now teaching UAV operation, too. These include the University of North Dakota, Northwestern Michigan College (which owns a small quadcopter and a Penguin B fixed-wing system), Kansas State University-Salina, and Liberty University (which offers courses like "GOVT 383: History and Nature of Intelligence Tools"). The State of Nevada is coordinating all of its UAV education through the brand-new Nevada Autonomous Systems Institute.

Post-Afghanistan Blues

It's easy to see what's driving this phenomenon. The starting salary for a drone pilot is in the $50,000 to $60,000 range. Should a 22-year-old graduate sign up with a government agency or defense contractor to work overseas, that salary can jump as high as $160,000. "It's a pretty significant income [for someone]who has just started a job field," Macchiarella says.

The big question, though, is how long those salaries will stay high. With the combination of sequestration and the projected U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, defense companies have been trimming salaries and benefits.

"We have seen healthcare benefits being reduced, in some cases, to nothing, and we have seen salaries being drawn down by more than 30 percent overnight," says Sam Trevino, a former Army sniper who works for a major UAV company, and who formed the Association of Unmanned Operation, a collective bargaining organization, in late 2011.

Granted, a salary drop from $150,000 to $100,000 doesn't seem too terrible given the state of the economy. But these jobs come with a long stint in Afghanistan. (Larger UAVs, such as the Predators and Reapers, can be operated by satellite link from special trailers in Nevada. Smaller drones require someone in the theater.)

And ultimately, UAV pilot jobs and salaries will depend on the FAA.

Flying Over the Farm

The FAA has never been a fan of drones. For example, the agency dragged its feet on publishing the recommendations of its 2008 Aviation Rulemaking Committee on integrating small UAVs into the national airspace. But the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2012 leaves it little choice: Congress has mandated that the FAA must find a way to integrate commercial UAVs into national airspace no later than September 2015.

Should that happen, the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International—the industry body pushing for integration—expects an $82.1 billion economic boom over the following 10 years, with 104,000 new jobs created. The focus of this boom? Agriculture, which will comprise 80 percent of the future domestic market.

"The farmers are very excited about this," says Kevin Price, an agronomist at Kansas State University who works with drones. "I gave a talk in January to about 200 farmers."

Farmers want to use UAVs to monitor their crops for precision agriculture, the fine-tuned application of seed, fertilizer, and pesticide. Current monitoring methods, using planes and satellites, are expensive. And there are issues with image resolution and availability. "The problem with satellite imagery is that the data are often not available when the farmer needed the data," Price says. "For example, in Kansas, we may get three cloud-free images per growing season."

By contrast, Price has flown a 5-pound Zephyr II UAV over a square mile, taking photos at inch-resolution in just 20 minutes. All he needed was a nice, not particularly windy day.

By combining infrared, multispectral, and hyperspectral cameras with imagery analysis software, drones could detect overwatering and early signs of disease and insect infestation in crops. This would help farmers be more selective in their applications, preventing water waste and harmful runoff.

John Marselus, the associate dean of flight operations at Liberty University's School of Aeronautics, envisions farmers pooling their resources and hiring a drone operator to fly their fields like they would a crop duster. Students will also find open doors in public safety—law enforcement, firefighting, and search and rescue—and probably some surprising industries where drones will become important. Still, he is cautious as to how quickly domestic skies will open to drones.

"For now, we've been directing our students toward Defense Department jobs," he says. "In the future, if the FAA integration goes through, we'll look at other areas, including precision agriculture."

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